Image: globalsecurity.org
02:21 13.06.2017 (updated 06:43 13.06.2017)
As Germany, Spain and other European nations
scour the market for viable multirole military aircraft, the next generation
fighter may come from the Toulouse, France-based aircraft giant Airbus,
according to German newspaper Handlesblatt.
Most European air crews rely on the
legacy F-16 and Eurofighter Typhoon, in addition to the Tornado,
but with the US becoming shakier on its commitment to NATO it
may be high time for Europe to handle more of its defense
requirements in-house.
Spain and Germany have already begun pouring
resources into a possible pan-European fighter jet, Deutsche Welle
reported Monday. Airbus defense head Fernando Alonso said “hopefully other
players in the future” will contribute to the significant initial
costs of designing a plane of the future, the German paper added.
From a bloc-security standpoint, condensing
the spread of aircraft weapons systems with a new European-engineered
and —produced combat aircraft could streamline defense operations
for the 28-nation bloc, the German paper added.
As it stands, nations use many different
types of aircraft. Some already have the high-tech (and frequently broken)
F-35: Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK, and Turkey have all
agreed to participate in the US’ Joint Strike Fighter program,
according to Lockheed’s corporate website. Lithuania, however, has just
one combat aircraft in its 14-plane fleet, and it came off the
production line in the 1970s. Estonia, meanwhile, has no armed aircraft
in its current inventory.
According to Alonso, even two or three
different types of aerial weapons systems will drive inefficiencies and
cost more money over time.
The German government appears to be
taking a methodical, even-handed approach in considering all of its
options. In addition to funding development of an Airbus-made jet,
the Luftwaffe filed a request with the Pentagon for classified details about Washington’s
uber-expensive F-35, and the German Ministry of Defense expressed it was
conducting an "in-depth evaluation of available market solutions …
including the F-35."
China could prove to be an x-factor
as the aviation giant charts out possible solutions for Europe’s
aerial fleet. On June 1, Beijing inked a memorandum of understanding
with Airbus on aviation and aerospace, "further enhancing a
spirit of cooperation," Airbus announced on its website.
China’s J-20 looks and flies astoundingly similar
to Lockheed’s fifth-generation F-35, leading many to believe China
somehow obtained the blueprints for one of America’s most expensive
aircraft. Some had wondered whether some of Washington’s secrets were
stolen by Chinese hackers.
These curious people did not need
to wait too long. A confidential report on cyberconflict
between China and the US shown to the Washington Post in 2013
stated that the $1.4 trillion F-35 program had been compromised. Leaks
from ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden confirmed that 50 terabytes had been
swiped from the Pentagon — including details about the F-35’s
engine design and stealth features — and ultimately ended up in
Beijing’s hands.
Source: Here
The J-20 has no resemblance to the F-35........
Airbus hopes to build new European fighter
jet
31 March 2017 - 11H21
FRANKFURT AM MAIN (AFP) -
Aerospace giant Airbus is planning a
next-generation European fighter jet, the group's defence chief said Friday,
hoping to profit from the Old Continent's renewed commitment to reach NATO
defence spending targets.
"We are currently putting together
pre-design studies to show what such an aircraft could look like," Airbus
Defence and Space chief executive Dirk Hoke told German business daily Handelsblatt.
"We're speaking very intensively with European governments."
Many EU nations are looking to boost defence
spending, as pressure mounts from Donald Trump's White House for NATO allies to
increase military budgets to the alliance's target of 2.0 percent of GDP.
A future Airbus fighter -- known as the
"Next Generation Weapons System" (NGWS) -- would have
"far-reaching new technical qualities," Hoke said.
It could "combine the best of both
worlds" of manned and unmanned aircraft, with a human-piloted plane
working "in combination with a swarm of drones," he went on.
"The overwhelming opinion of the nations is that they should hang on to
manned platforms."
"Such projects can no longer be financed
by individual nations" in Europe, Hoke believes.
The armaments chief expects France and
Germany to take the lead on the new fighter, but there are disagreements about
when it should enter service -- in 2035, when Berlin's 85 Tornado
fighter-bombers are set to be mothballed, or Paris' preferred option of between
2035 and 2040.
Germany is unlikely to commit to the project
before parliamentary elections in September, with Airbus expecting
"far-reaching studies to be authorised in the coming year.
"Then we would need a basic decision for
the new platform in the next two to three years" to keep to a 2035
timetable, Hoke said.
Airbus has been dogged in recent years by
troubles with another joint project, the A400M transport plane commissioned by
seven countries -- Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Belgium, and
Turkey.
Hoke faced a dressing-down from client
nations on Thursday in Madrid.
A source told AFP the nations had refused
Airbus' request that they hold off imposing the heavy penalties provided for in
the A400M contract that have weighed on the company's profits.
"We will never sign contracts with
conditions like that again," Hoke told Handelsblatt, blaming the problems
on unrealistic requirements from the buyers and their insistence on using
European-built engines.
In the closer future, Airbus expects "to
add three to five percent to business in defence and space, even more in
digital", as countries begin to ratchet up military budgets, Hoke said.
"The increase in military budgets has
already begun, and there were already positive signs of that in our new orders
last year."
© 2017 AFP
Source: france24.com
Related post:
Chengdu J-20: Details
A400M Military Transport: Details
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